Ellsworth Public Schools

The Ellsworth Public Schools district in Maine consists of two schools: Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School serving grades PK-8 and Ellsworth High School serving grades 9-12. The district faces several key challenges, including declining performance at the high school, high chronic absenteeism rates, and socioeconomic disadvantages among the student population.

Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School has consistently ranked in the middle of Maine elementary schools, but it has a relatively high chronic absenteeism rate of 30.1% and over a third of its students receive free or reduced-price lunch. In contrast, Ellsworth High School has seen a significant decline in its state-wide ranking, dropping from 22nd out of 82 Maine high schools to 102nd out of 123 over the past 3 years. The high school also has an extremely high chronic absenteeism rate of 46.6%, nearly 20 percentage points higher than the elementary-middle school.

Despite these challenges, Ellsworth High School maintains a relatively strong 4-year graduation rate of 92.4%. However, the district as a whole is rated 1 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger, ranking 135th out of 177 districts in Maine. Addressing the issues of declining performance, high chronic absenteeism, and socioeconomic disadvantages should be a priority for the Ellsworth Public Schools district in order to improve educational outcomes and provide a high-quality learning environment for all students.